- Jun 25, 2006
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When you're at the gym you may see that one jacked guy in a wife beater with a thick, popping chest and intimidating shoulders and arms and think to yourself "Damn!" -- but as soon as he turns around you realize his back is as flat as a 5 year old girl's chest and immediately his "wow" factor drops drastically. Don't be a victim to this type of asymmetry! Not only can it be ridiculous looking it can also be detrimental to your muscles because developing too much muscle on one side of the body and not equally developing it on the other side can cause the stronger side to "tug" at the weaker side and, over time, cause a serious muscle imbalance and even tear the weaker side. So if you want to stop being all chest and no back then read on!
When it comes to building a big, powerful back, as with any other bodypart, there are 3 major components: training, nutrition, and rest. . I will go over all 3 and give you a sample training regimen and sample diet.
TRAINING
Most people agree that when it comes to effectively training the back overall high intensity is required. This means implementing high volume, heavy weight, and various shock techniques to truly fatigue the back and force it to grow. If you're just going through the motions when training back your development will go very slowly. But if you treat each back workout like it's your last and really put meaning and purpose into your movements and get a very good squeeze and pump soon enough you will be very satisfied with your results. To achieve an awe inspiring back you should train back twice a week; the first session should be on Monday and focus on overall heavy weight and high volume and high intensity while the second session, on Friday, should focus on more refining movements and using better form to get a better stretch and squeeze and pump.
In my opinion the best mass building exercises for the back are:
- Deadlifts
- Bent Over Barbell Rows
- Wide Grip Pull Ups
- One Arm DB Rows
In my opinion the best refining movements for the back are:
- Lat Pull Downs
- Cable Rows
- Hyperextensions
- Standing Cable Straight Arm Pulldowns
Therefore, Monday's mass building back workout should be like this, in the following order:
Deadlifts, 3-4 sets, 6-8 reps
Wide Grip Pull Ups, 3-4 sets to failure
Bent Over Barbell Rows, 3-4 sets, 6-8 reps
One Arm DB Rows, 3-4 sets, 6-8 reps
Remember, whatever exercise, pick a weight heavy and challenging enough for you so your muscles fail in the 6-8 rep range, at the same time using good lifting form of course. On this day we use the 6-8 rep range because it has been scientifically proven that the 6-8 rep range is best for putting on sheer mass to the muscle.
Friday's refining back workout should be like this, in the following order:
Hyperextensions, 3-4 sets, 10-12 reps
Lat Pull Downs (I prefer a v grip or an underhand grip when doing this exercise), 3-4 sets, 10-12 reps
Cable Rows (I prefer a v grip on this exercise), 3-4 sets, 10-12 reps
Standing Cable Straight Arm Pull Downs, 3-4 sets, 10-12 reps
Remember to pick a weight heavy and challenging enough for you so your muscles fail in the 10-12 range, at the same time using good lifting form of course. You use the 10-12 rep range on this day because it is a "refining" day and the 10-12 rep range is better for getting a good squeeze and pump to the muscle and adding more detail to it.
NUTRITION
When it comes to building a big back, nutrition is key; nutrition can be said to be even more important than training itself. To add slabs and slabs of dense muscle onto your back you need to follow a bulking diet. According to your weight, you should consume 1 - 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight, 2 - 3 grams of carbohydrates per pound of body weight, and about 0.5 - 1 gram of fat per pound of body weight. The following is a sample bulking diet for someone who is 150 - 170 pounds.
Meal One
50 grams of whey protein & 20 cashews/almonds.
Meal Two
2 cups of brown rice, 6 whole eggs, and 2 cups of orange juice.
(Train...)
Meal Three (Post Workout)
50 grams of whey protein & 100 grams of simple carbohydrates.
Meal Four
2 cups of brown rice, 8 oz. steak, and salad.
Meal Five
2 cups of brown rice, 8 oz. chicken, and salad.
Meal Six
50 grams of casein protein & 20 cashews/almonds.
Total Calories: Approximately 4200
Protein: Approximately 330 grams
Carbohydrates: Approximately 442 grams
Fat: Approximately 124 grams
REST
Rest should not be a confusing matter; your muscles, afterall, grow when you're at home resting and eating, not when you're demolishing them at the gym. As IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Dennis James once said: "You don't grow in the gym. You grow when you're home, with your ass on the coach, drinking a protein shake and watching something stupid on TV." Aim to train your back no more than two times a week; allowing a few days between session 1 and session 2 permits your back to take a break and grow a bit. In fact, after a month or two of training back 2 times a week you should back down to training back just one time a week to prevent overtraining and allow yourself to better recuperate and grow even more. If you are following a traditional bodybuilding split which encourages training each bodypart one time a week, training your back one time a week is perfectly fine -- just make sure it's the mass building workout and you hit your back that much harder. And make sure to get at least 8 hours of pure, interrupted sleep each night. Your back will thank you.
By bojanglesk8
When it comes to building a big, powerful back, as with any other bodypart, there are 3 major components: training, nutrition, and rest. . I will go over all 3 and give you a sample training regimen and sample diet.
TRAINING
Most people agree that when it comes to effectively training the back overall high intensity is required. This means implementing high volume, heavy weight, and various shock techniques to truly fatigue the back and force it to grow. If you're just going through the motions when training back your development will go very slowly. But if you treat each back workout like it's your last and really put meaning and purpose into your movements and get a very good squeeze and pump soon enough you will be very satisfied with your results. To achieve an awe inspiring back you should train back twice a week; the first session should be on Monday and focus on overall heavy weight and high volume and high intensity while the second session, on Friday, should focus on more refining movements and using better form to get a better stretch and squeeze and pump.
In my opinion the best mass building exercises for the back are:
- Deadlifts
- Bent Over Barbell Rows
- Wide Grip Pull Ups
- One Arm DB Rows
In my opinion the best refining movements for the back are:
- Lat Pull Downs
- Cable Rows
- Hyperextensions
- Standing Cable Straight Arm Pulldowns
Therefore, Monday's mass building back workout should be like this, in the following order:
Deadlifts, 3-4 sets, 6-8 reps
Wide Grip Pull Ups, 3-4 sets to failure
Bent Over Barbell Rows, 3-4 sets, 6-8 reps
One Arm DB Rows, 3-4 sets, 6-8 reps
Remember, whatever exercise, pick a weight heavy and challenging enough for you so your muscles fail in the 6-8 rep range, at the same time using good lifting form of course. On this day we use the 6-8 rep range because it has been scientifically proven that the 6-8 rep range is best for putting on sheer mass to the muscle.
Friday's refining back workout should be like this, in the following order:
Hyperextensions, 3-4 sets, 10-12 reps
Lat Pull Downs (I prefer a v grip or an underhand grip when doing this exercise), 3-4 sets, 10-12 reps
Cable Rows (I prefer a v grip on this exercise), 3-4 sets, 10-12 reps
Standing Cable Straight Arm Pull Downs, 3-4 sets, 10-12 reps
Remember to pick a weight heavy and challenging enough for you so your muscles fail in the 10-12 range, at the same time using good lifting form of course. You use the 10-12 rep range on this day because it is a "refining" day and the 10-12 rep range is better for getting a good squeeze and pump to the muscle and adding more detail to it.
NUTRITION
When it comes to building a big back, nutrition is key; nutrition can be said to be even more important than training itself. To add slabs and slabs of dense muscle onto your back you need to follow a bulking diet. According to your weight, you should consume 1 - 2 grams of protein per pound of body weight, 2 - 3 grams of carbohydrates per pound of body weight, and about 0.5 - 1 gram of fat per pound of body weight. The following is a sample bulking diet for someone who is 150 - 170 pounds.
Meal One
50 grams of whey protein & 20 cashews/almonds.
Meal Two
2 cups of brown rice, 6 whole eggs, and 2 cups of orange juice.
(Train...)
Meal Three (Post Workout)
50 grams of whey protein & 100 grams of simple carbohydrates.
Meal Four
2 cups of brown rice, 8 oz. steak, and salad.
Meal Five
2 cups of brown rice, 8 oz. chicken, and salad.
Meal Six
50 grams of casein protein & 20 cashews/almonds.
Total Calories: Approximately 4200
Protein: Approximately 330 grams
Carbohydrates: Approximately 442 grams
Fat: Approximately 124 grams
REST
Rest should not be a confusing matter; your muscles, afterall, grow when you're at home resting and eating, not when you're demolishing them at the gym. As IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Dennis James once said: "You don't grow in the gym. You grow when you're home, with your ass on the coach, drinking a protein shake and watching something stupid on TV." Aim to train your back no more than two times a week; allowing a few days between session 1 and session 2 permits your back to take a break and grow a bit. In fact, after a month or two of training back 2 times a week you should back down to training back just one time a week to prevent overtraining and allow yourself to better recuperate and grow even more. If you are following a traditional bodybuilding split which encourages training each bodypart one time a week, training your back one time a week is perfectly fine -- just make sure it's the mass building workout and you hit your back that much harder. And make sure to get at least 8 hours of pure, interrupted sleep each night. Your back will thank you.
By bojanglesk8